6.30.2010

TweetLooking at what won awards at Cannes in terms of online/digital/social work, and the thing that jumps out is that a lot of the work seemed less about some amazing online experience and more about a practical, utilitarian approach to dealing with customers. Feels like where things are headed now is either in that direction, or it’s about eye candy for eye candy’s sake, where the only focus is on doing something amazing that grabs your attention—not helps you with your online reservations.

But that’s okay too. Trying out cool techniques, even when they’re used to promote mediocre product(s), leads to advances in design and advertising that others can take and run with.

Swedish pop star Robyn’s new music video as 3D site definitely does that. The 3D on top of an aggregated real-time twitter stream may be overkill for some, but it works. The song is Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do, and in it, she lists all the things in life that were getting to her after coming off the road. Users are encouraged to update on Twitter just what it is that’s killing them by using the tag #killingme in some way. This twist on the Pulp Fiction animated type technique takes key words from those updates and displays them large across the screen at a pace that matches the tempo of the music. VIA

Tweet"A quick Apple ipad live fingerpainting demo that was streamed live from Brooklyn on Monday June 21st. 2010, The model sat for 3 hours. This video is probably five the hell minutes too long, but David Kassan’s finger painting using the iPad and brushes app is impressive regardless. My inner wiseass is saying wouldn’t it just be better to take a pic and add a watercolor effect in Photoshop? EXCEPT THE IPAD HAS NO CAMERA. Still assuming it did, time saved equals, um, almost the entire time it took to draw it. A lot of people commenting that finally, someone found a good use for the iPad. So basically then, this will come in handy with artists in court. Otherwise, it’s a brilliant example of using a forward-thinking tech to execute a traditional task usually done by hand, pencil and paper. Migrate from paper to screens to then mimic pape... YOU GET THE POINT." VIA

6.28.2010

TweetHigh school students cheering for their soccer teams. The most amazing thing is that they do this with their CLOTHES (not holding up cards). they have a jacket that is one color on the back, one on the front, and that they can open or close to show a third color shirt on the inside. Awesome.

TweetDutch designer Tomáš Gabzdil Libertiny made a sculpture of Jesus that was completed by 40,000 bees. He erected a sealed glass container with his mold inside. Libertiny then released 40,000 bees who worked on the honeycombed surface of the mold:"The small cabinet is a clean-room unit that has been constructed from custom aluminium profiles, glass sheets, rubber inserts and wooden beehives. the base plate of glass has been cut with a queen restrictor mesh, allowing worker-bees to access the encased structure from two hives hung beneath the cabinet.Over the course of the fair, 40 000 worker bees were released into the case to complete a wax honeycomb structure over the figure of a martyred christ rising out of the chaos, his weight seeming to be upheld by the mass strength of the swarm. the figure within the vitrine is made of a laser sintered framework in which the industrious bees created a honeycomb skin over before filling each cell with the honey they produce. then bees worked to remove the honey from the cells and return it to the beehive, cleaning the figure back to the wax cells they originally created. tomáš made the honeycomb a red-orange color to symbolize the cross. "

AR Drone is a iPhone/iPad controlled helicopter developed by France based company Parrot. It has four fans that allow it to fly in any direction, and featuring both cameras(on its front and bottom back) of the AR.Drone can stream real time video back to phone. The chopper comes with two augments reality game, one of which pits you against a fighter jet that you need to try and shoot. Me want!!

6.27.2010

The Social Network is an upcoming 2010 comedy-drama film directed by David Fincher about the founding of Facebook. The film features an ensemble cast which consists of Jesse Eisenberg, Brenda Song, Justin Timberlake, Andrew Garfield, Rooney Mara and Armie Hammer. The film was written by Aaron Sorkin and adapted from Ben Mezrich's 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding Of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal. The film is distributed by Columbia Pictures and is set for an October 1, 2010 release.

None of the Facebook staff, including founder Mark Zuckerberg, will be involved with the project. One of the co-founders, Eduardo Saverin, was a consultant for Mezrich's book.

6.20.2010

6.18.2010

Tweet
I would like to thank all of you who have followed us since the beginning, and say hello to you who just found their way here. Today we have passed the 100.000 unique visitors mark. I'm very proud to see that more and more find us helpful. It's because of you that I keep on collecting visual stimulus. Keep on rockin and stay awesome. // Marc

TweetFor the Future Lions 2010 competition, Nicolai Villads (art director), Peter Ammentorp (art director) and Raul Montenegro (interactive designer) created the Durex baby case. It's pure genious and very well made considered these people are students. The Future Lions is organized by digital agency AKQA and Cannes Lions Advertising festival.

El Caminito del Rey (English: The King's little pathway) In 1901 it became obvious that workers at the hydroelectric power plants at Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls needed a walkway to cross between the falls, to provide for transport of materials, and for the inspection and maintenance of the channel. Construction of the walkway took four years and it was finished in 1905.

The walkway has now gone many years without maintenance, and is in a highly deteriorated and dangerous state. It is one meter (3 feet and 3 inches) in width, and is over 100 meters (350 feet) above the river. Nearly all of the path has no handrail. Some parts of the concrete walkway have completely collapsed and all that is remaining is the steel beam originally in place to hold it up. One can latch onto a modern steel safety-wire to keep from falling, though it can't hold much weight. Several people have lost their lives on the walkway in recent years; after four people died in two accidents in 1999 and 2000, the local government closed the entrances. To this day it remains illegal to cross. However policing is extremely minimal and many adventurous tourists still find their way onto the walkway to explore it. Awesome.

6.17.2010

"Frooti, one of India's largest selling mango drinks, wanted to reiterate that it was made of real, juicy mangoes. It is popular across socio-economic segments from small towns to big metros in India. We had to find an engaging idea that cut across target segments and could be enjoyed by all. The market is saturated with conventional juice/beverage TVCs. We decided to lead with an unconventional promotional activity. We decided to scare, shock and surprise people with big mangoes, up close and personal, in a way that they will not forget for a long, long time. We came up with the Mango Surprise Project.

THE SOLUTION:We executed the Mango Surprise Project in 3 parts: 1. We played Mango Surprise pranks (live stunts) on people across cities in India. We dropped giant mangoes from trees near passersby, rolled 8-foot mangoes down sloping roads on to oncoming pedestrians, and swapped baggage for giant mangoes on airport conveyor belts. We scared, shocked and surprised them and caught their attention. 2. Then we got the 'Prank Anchor' to run up to the 'Prank Victims', hand them a bottle of Frooti, explain to them that Frooti is made of real, juicy mangoes and make them sample it. 3. We captured these moments on hidden camera and edited it to create the brand's TVC, viral and branded entertainment content. We played over 600 Mango Surprise pranks across 30 cities."

Tweet"Instead of moving the tape over a play head, the tape is fixed stationary to a wall. As a participant, you wear a glove that has the playhead on your finger trip, allowing you to drag your finger over the tape to play the audio." Watch it in action!This interactive sound installation deals with exploring the physical connection between people and technology. A tangible user interface, taking the form of a glove is worn by the participant as they are invited to interact with an analogue tape surface. As the glove comes in contact with the tape, sound is generated and can be manipulated via touch and movement.The Analogue Tape Glove by Signal to Noise.

6.15.2010

TweetThese retro typewriters have been converted into USB keyboards. They can be used as keyboards for USB-capable computer, such as a PC, Mac, or even iPad! By Jack Zylkin. He takes old typewriters from the dark ages of office equipment and convert them into keyboards you can use with modern computers. Here’s a video of one of the modded keyboards in action (with an iPad as its screen). You can purchase your own USB Typewriter for about $400 to $500, and he also see kits for $75 to $150.

6.14.2010

Exploit yourself is a Spec commercial inspired by NIKE. Directed by Carl Erik Rinsch, Expliot yourself talks about your own limits. The commercial was produced in Big Lazy Robot Visual Effects studio from february to may. Their wish was to show off the nerve and spark and freshness of the city with the strength and power of modern sport competition, all in a whole 3d environment.

“Death Penalty” is latest from TBWA Paris for Amnesty International directed by Pleix via warm&fuzzy.

Drawing inspiration from the Amnesty logo, a lit candle, Pleix have created a beautiful and moving spot against the death penalty.

Initially, TBWA Paris and Pleix wanted to create the entire spot in camera, shooting real statues created out of wax. But in initial tests it was discovered that it was too difficult to shoot melting wax without it looking like stop-motion, so the film was almost completely done in CG except for a few live action elements. As with all Amnesty International campaigns, this film was created on a voluntary basis. The French collective Pleix, represented by warm&fuzzy in Paris, worked with Parisian post-house Digital District for several months on this CG tour de force to create the photo-real melting of wax.

“The shoot was the easy part of the job,” says Pleix. “I sat in my kitchen filming flames and dripping crème fresh everywhere. The biggest challenge was not to make my girlfriend mad at the mess I was creating. We also did a number of facial scans which enabled us to create extra details on the faces.”

The statues were all sculpted in CG and they were deformed (“melted”) using special software. “Creating the texture of wax was relatively easy to render compared to simulating realistic deformations of wax,” says Pleix. “CG software is great when you are making quick water splashes, but they were unusable to melt things very slowly. So we had to find many tricks to make it work, especially with the melting being the highlight of this project. It was a challenge to the very end.”

TweetFrom Lance Armstrong on his bike, to a six-year-old in China learning martial arts, movement is the universal language that connects us all. It's a language of beauty, drama, tragedy and triumph. And the road to athletic greatness is not marked by perfection, but the ability to constantly overcome adversity and failure.

"It's not how you start, it's how you finish. It's not where you're from, it's where you're at. Everybody gets knocked down, how quick are you going to get up?" Music: Ali in the Jungle by THE HOURS.

TweetSteve Jobs just announced iPhone 4($200-$300) at the Worldwide Developers Conference. It is 34% thinner than the iPhone 3GS, but 3 grams heavier(It is 4.5 x 2.31 inches, and 0.37 inches thick. It weighs 4.8 ounces), black glass and stainless steel body, and with split buttons for volume, unlike the current iPhone 3GS. Featuring an Apple A4 processor, seven hours of talk time, a front-facing camera (640 x 480) FaceTime video calls and an LED flash alongside its new 5-megapixel camera on the back, a 3.5-inch Retina Display(the same size as current iPhones, higher resolution (960 x 640). The price? The 16GB iPhone 4 will sell for $199, and the 32GB for $299. The phone will be available in black or white on June 24th. Now, knowing most people don't know how to work their phones we'll probably be seeing alot of these:

TweetOne of the better Ads in a long time. Made by Clemenger BBDO, Wellington. New Zealand's inner city speed limit is 50 kilometers. The tiny difference in the speed, only 10 km/h can actually make a big change in peoples lifes.

6.04.2010

TweetDraftfcbs recent campaign for Radio Service blew advertising limits and became an Internet phenomenon. Here's the brand new sequel. "- It's crazy hard to follow up such a movie. It has been much anxiety." says Jesper Eronen copy of Draftfcb.

Tweet"Lego felt tip 110 printer connected to an Apple Mac. This is not mindstorms, designed/built/coded it all from scratch including analog motor electronics, sensors and printer driver, the USB interface uses a “wiring” board." VIA

6.02.2010

Tweet"Gay Class" is part of the campaign "Come as You Are," showing that any such person may be comfortable at McDonald's. A great initiative of the mark in supporting the gay community. Made by BETC Euro RSCG, Paris.

Satan, are you down there? This is a giant-ass sinkhole in Guatemala City that appeared over the weekend after tropical storm Agatha battered Central America with rain. Residents said a three-storey building and a house fell into the hole. The residents blamed a poor sewerage system for the sinkhole. I blame Satan! Awesome. VIA

And if you understand Spanish, there’s a news report here, which just shows how large the hole is: